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Thursday, February 05, 2015

The Sino-Russian 20+ ton Heavy-lift Helicopter Project, confirmed

China, Russia jointly develop heavy helicopter

(Source: China Military Online) 2015-01-21

BEIJING, January 21 (ChinaMil) –During the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008,
an all-red Russian-made M-26 helicopter, the largest helicopter in the
world, was frequently seen on TV. It lifted a large number of
badly-needed goods and materials to the disaster-hit areas, impressing
the public.

However, there were only two M-26 helicopters in
China at that time, and they were the only helicopters that were able to
lift those lifesaving heavy-duty machines.

The pain of
Wenchuan is also the pain of the helicopter industry in China. After
that, China began to speed up the development of heavy helicopters, and
China and Russia's joint development of heavy helicopters has become a
hot spot.

An insider from the military industry system of
Russia said in an interview that the heavy helicopter being jointly
developed by China and Russia is slightly smaller than the M-26
helicopter. With China's needs taken into full consideration, it is
usable at high altitude, reported Interfax, the Russian news agency.

With the help of Russia who possesses strong technical strength in
helicopters, this advanced heavy helicopter tailor-made for China is
taking shape.

In as early as 2010, Andrei Shibitov, Chief
Executive Officer of the Russian Helicopters, declared at a news
conference that Russia and China would jointly develop 30-35 tonnage
helicopters.

The reports in recent years show that such heavy
helicopter jointly developed by China and Russia becomes smaller but
more practical.

Dmitry Rogozin, Russian chairman of the
Preparatory Committee for Regular Meeting between Chinese and Russian
Prime Ministers and deputy prime minister of Russia, said after talking
with the Chinese side in August 2013 that Russia and China might jointly
develop extra-heavy helicopters whose carrying capacity doubles that of
the M-26 helicopter.

Aleksandra Mikheyev, general manager of
the Russian Helicopters, said at the Zhuhai Air Show in November 2014
that the contract would be signed for the China-Russian heavy helicopter
joint development project in two or three months, and the aerodynamic
configuration and flight performance parameters of the helicopter would
be determined by February 2015.

Mikheyev said that the model is
evolved from the M-26T helicopter, its take-off weight and carrying
capacity are all smaller than those of the M-26 helicopter, but it is
equipped with the M-26's D-136 engine, and therefore is superior to the
M-26 helicopter in terms of thrust-weight ratio and mobility.

The latest coverage of the Russian media, however, described the
helicopter as "with a take-off weight of 38 tons and a carrying capacity
of less than 15 tons, it can be used on plateaus under thermal climate
conditions", which is not a copy and simple improvement of the M-26
helicopter.